Charlie Sheen might be winning but the Rockets aren’t. Not yet

OK, it is a nice a run and it is especially nice to see them play some defense for a change, holding their last two foes – New Orleans and Portland – to 89 and 87 points, respectively.

But let’s not get too excited. They are still in last place in the Southwest Division, three games behind Memphis, which currently holds the No. 8 playoff seed.

Until the Rockets can put together another stretch of good play like Memphis (has won 12 of its last 16) or Dallas (has won 17 of 18), this little streak is just that: a little streak. Are they capable of that?

Remember, they won five in a row earlier this season to get to .500. But they have not been above .500 at any point this season.

They have to win one more game to be a winning team.

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Here is something you can have fun with. There are 20 games left.

Should the Grizzlies go 10-10 (which won’t be easy, they have a tough schedule) the Rockets, with a relatively easy schedule, need to go 13-7 to catch them.

The Rockets’ best 20-game stretch this season? Their current one: 12-8.

Houston is also three games behind Portland, which has played two fewer games, and it trails Phoenix and Utah too.

Making the playoffs won’t be easy.

Say what you want about playing young players,but this is not the time. The playoffs are the goal; always are and always should be.

If you aren’t trying to make the playoffs, you shouldn’t charge for tickets and call it a competition. This is the NBA, not “professional” wrasslin.

The article did no such thing, but homers tend to overact to everything. Clanton can’t help it. He is a homer. Nothing unusual about that. That is what local TV expects, demands even, of its reporters.

(On a side note, when is Ch. 2 going to start having its sports reporters use props like its news reporters? I can see Clanton now, standing outside Toyota Center holding a huge letter “D” and a picket fence in talking about a Rockets’ win.)

Clanton and I had a little debate about the tone of the article earlier on Twitter. I won. Adam Wexler, morning host on 790, said so.

Shane Battier said on Memphis radio (checkout the transcript from sportsradiointerviews.com) that he learned about his trade to Memphis via Twitter. The article points out, and I agree, that one would think a player like Battier would get such news well before it was leaked to the media.

But I don’t think Morey did anything wrong, or has anything to apologize for, unless he invented Twitter.

In this media age, things like this will happen more and more. Where once a player might rightly feel wronged by finding out he was traded on Monday in Tuesday morning’s paper, now he can do as Battier did and follow the blow-by-blow on a live feed on the Internet.

Morey’s after-the-deal call to Battier could not beat Twitter. Wasn’t going to happen.

While I would have contacted Battier as soon as I knew I was going to make the move, there is nothing wrong with Morey reaching out to him after the deal became official. It isn’t necessarily his fault the deal leaked to the media and was on Twitter before he made the call.

Some of you don’t think it matters. You don’t respect athletes that much or you think they make enough money to deal with it. Money makes life easier, but when your life takes such a strong blow as a trade to another city, money is the last thing on your mind.

After the news conference to announce the trade deadline moves, I asked Morey if he had talked to Aaron Brooks. He said he had reached out to both Brooks and Battier, but was unable to get in touch with either one.

Unable to get in touch? In 2011? That to me says they didn’t answer his call because they already knew what he was calling about. News of the trades were everywhere before Morey called to thank them for their service.

I don’t blame Battier for being a bit miffed.

Battier would rather have stayed in Houston and retired a Rocket. He knows there are no such guarantees in sports. The Rockets would not offer him a contract extension. They were going to trade him wherever they could for whatever they could get and there was nothing he could do about it.

That’s one of the downsides of being an NBA player.

It would have been nice had he got word from the team instead of it flashing up on a computer screen, or on the news crawl on TV as was the case with Deron Williams.

Then again, as I said on Twitter, I wish my boss would try to call me after I learned he had traded me to Memphis. Oh, that phone call would not go well.

24 Responses

Do you have something against Morey? The Rockets? I understand calling for fans to be realistic (not likely since “fan” is derived from fanatic), but it seems like most of your Rockets opinion pieces have a negative tone. Perhaps you could write about how this team might actually be better through addition by subtraction. Perhaps you could discuss how Aaron Brooks horrible play this season may have been an anchor dragging the team down. Maybe you could point out that by trading Brooks & Battier the Rocket now only have 1 offensive liability in their 8 man rotation instead of 3. Call both sides of the argument, not just the negative…

you have been pretty good about keeping that always well timed negativity in check -shoot I was even starting to enjoy the reads of late- but as we say in the movies HE’S BAAAAAACCCCK.

Sheeze,what a time to rain on a long awaited parade. I mean this team is not championship bound, but they just won back to back road games against two good teams and here you goes again.

You say don’t get excited? I say why the heck not! Exactly what is it gonna hurt.

Man,my man, your timing is legendary with the putdowns.

On another note I see you mimick this Rockets have a soft schedule thing. As you are not the first to say so, it must be a comparative thing .

Granted they have a lttle homestand coming up, but I do not see an “easy ” april there myself.

So , sorry to see you fell off the wagonwith the patended negativeity thing. Nobody thinks they are going anywhere ,but to poop on them after a pretty impressive week is rather sad. I mean they already had to suck it up when their own coach PUBLICALLY whined about the trade. Now that was really bush league. For a whi;le there i thought you had sold your interest in that franchise.

Shane “knew” about the trade months in advance. Just not the particulars. Its not like he was caught by surprise. At least the trade was to one of his favorite places. And if he wants so bad to finish his career as a Rocket, then he could re-sign with them at the end of the year. I can’t believe Daryl would turn him down if the price was right.

I read your column, I listen to the radio non-athletes….. and you all do not get it. They are playing true team basketball, as they did without McGrady in 2009, without a superstar, without DRAMA…. they are all playing 100% team… defense and offense…. AND IT IS CONTAGIOUS for all the team members. They got rid of their number one I PLAYER in Brooks. They showed before he left, when he was not around they played their best. I expect them to play .800 basketball and will have a good chance to make the playoffs AND possibly advance. Not worrying about drama, superstars that are not getting enough shots….. and a team that is very, very tough mentally, with a good coach makes a run as NOW successful.

MANNNNNNNN! Battier was the Rockets only problem simply put HE WAS IN THE WAY! The reason they are perfoming much better is that everyone on the floor can finish plays. Something Battier could never do.

I am enjoying following the Rockets. Last night’s game was very enjoyable. Call me a fan even a homer if you like. But if the Rockets make the playoffs (still unlikely but more probable than a week ago), they will wither very quickly. It would be best if Phoenix beat the Rockets by one game for the eighth spot. We will have enjoyed a good stretch run, and our draft picks will look a whole lot better.

The Homicide units can’t even keep crucial testimonies and breaking information a secret without them being leaked to the media. Its actually so bad that it prolongs cases and sets back the investigation. That being said.. In todays world, everything is leaked for a step up, and add to that the fact money rules everything…..That being said, I dont have any sympathy for a millionare, or anyone who is lucky enough to be on t.v. Battier being miffed and Charlie Sheen are the least of my worries. This worlds going to hell in a handbasket and people seem to be o.k. with that as long as the have sports moguels and T.V stars to follow. Scott Robinson hit the nail on the head. There are more important things in life. I love your blog JS, and I appreciate the time and effort you put in it. I’m just sending my two cents on the stupidity that is our media. Peace and liver grease!

for god sake we got 7’3 young center (2nd draft pick) who plays like young mutombo and with potential to be future great center.. quit crying.. we lost yao already we need to look forward if it takes shane then so be it.. besides bud, patt, Twill to give rotation time which is positive impact after shane and ab gone.. 6-0 baby in the road with though opponents.

we need to keep young to make our team grows with the legacy of shane im sure the young learn from it..

JS – ” If you aren’t trying to make the playoffs, you shouldn’t charge for tickets and call it a competition. This is the NBA, not “professional” wrasslin.”

The goal should be rings not pointless playoff defeats. This team has ZERO chance to win a ring this year, and as currently constructed they have Zero chance at winning a title any time soon unless the young players on this team make a drastic leap in their development. That’s why player development should be the goal right now. If you win in the process then fine, but they should be getting the growing pains out of the way for the young guys in a season that essentially means nothing. I’m tired of watching this team flounder around in can-they-make-the-playoffs purgatory. This isn’t the NFL. There is a 7 game format. You aren’t going to get hot at the right time and ride it to a title. In a 7 game format the better team wins 99% of the time. Playing hard team ball can get you a nice little regular season win total, but great teams win NBA titles. Time to let the young guys get some experience that could pay off next season when it could actually matter.

They say guys need to earn playing time in practice, but there is rarely serious practices in the middle of a NBA season. Adelman has been horrible in that aspect. I remember when he had Hayes starting ahead of Scola and Landry, and Landry couldn’t even crack the rotation. It took him forever to see that he had better options than what he was going with on a nightly basis. When Hayes finally went to the bench the team went on that 22 game win streak. Was Battier really a better option on the court than Budinger? It sure seems like what Bud has lacked in defense he’s made up for with offense and the team has been better for it.

I’d much rather see the young guys gain experience than see vets get extended minutes in a fruitless attempt to make the playoffs. There are going to be some good players that will be in the back half of the lottery. Harrison Barnes looks to be slipping to the back half of the lottery along with Josh Selby and Jordan Hamilton. If the Rockets have a pick in the 11 range along with a mid first round pick from the Suns then they may be able to trade those two to get in the top half of the first round.

PLEASE GO AWAY!!! cover hockey or something no one cares about.. im sure 90% of your readers only skim through this garbage.. morey has left you completely sour when covering the rockets.. the real story about last nights game was how a coach insists on playing the same 8 on 4 games in 5 nights stretch.. way to miss that one solomon!

“Towards the close of yesterday’s basketball analytics panel, Mark Cuban and Kevin Pritchard showed their cards in terms of fast-tracking a franchise rebuilding project. Cuban confessed that once Dirk Nowitzki retires he expects the Mavericks to lose, and, if he gets his way, they’ll lose badly. Kevin Pritchard seemed to agree and introduced a new term into our lexicons: “the mediocrity treadmill.”

There is no championship future for a middling team that is stuck in the embattled space between those who struggle to make the playoffs and those that struggle and miss. Cuban has no desire for the Mavericks to be such a team. Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan recently defended trading Gerald Wallace to the Portland Trailblazers by saying, “We don’t want to be the seventh or eighth seed.” The Bobcats have been, at best, mediocre, and so perhaps we can interpret his statement as one owner casting his philosophical lot with Cuban and Pritchard…

Earlier today Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck suggested an in-house study that provides a baseline for team’s who want to win championships. “We looked at the last 25 NBA champions. Twenty-four out of twenty-five were won with a big three concept – three all-stars.” Grousbeck further defined his study by qualifying his big three as one player who is among the fifty greatest of all time and two all stars….

Assuming teams have three, five and 10 year business plans in place — plans that are designed to produce a team that is profitable at the box office and successful on the court — should they pencil in a losing season or two as part of their plan? Some would describe this approach as a species of tanking, but that’s not at all fair to Cuban and it misses the point, which is, after all, employing strategies that are more conducive to winning. If the data demonstrates that a strategy of temporarily embraced losing is actually a likelier fast-track to greater success, why would the sports public discourage stepping off the mediocrity treadmill as a smart long term strategy of team building. Losing, in this sense, is not only a path to success but, if viewed from above, a service to fans.”

Finally, some professionals in the business have weighed in on this subject. The Rockets don’t even have an all-star, much less a guy that could be seen as an all time great. Why are so many of you so concerned with making the playoffs (JS)? What is so great about spending the next 5-10 years like the 76ers have had post-Iverson? Why not just suck it up and take that one or two bad seasons and look to a brighter future?